John Kline: of injustice and we should not wait to pass this bill, put it on president obama's desk and make it the law of the land today. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentman from california. mr. speaker.

John Kline: i'm happy to yield at this time to the gentleman from minnesota, the ranking member of the subcommittee that has jurisdiction such time as he may consume. mr. kline. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota is recognized. kline kline thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for -- mr. kline: thank you, mr. speaker. i ri today to oppose again seriously flawed legislation. as you know, we passed this bill just two weeks ago and it is before us once again.

John Kline: unfortunately, the flaws and pot tension damage to our civil rights -- potential damage to our civil rights and economy remain. the enthusiastic supporters of the ledbetteact continue to beat the drum, claiming we are simply voting on a straightforward bill to reverse a supreme court decision involving discrimination in the workplace. despite the passage of time and

John Kline: continued requests by my colleagues and i in the minority party, however, they are no closer to telling the whole story. mr. speaker, the bill before us would reverse a court decision for the benefit of lilly ledbetter, but perhaps more significantly, it would dismantle the long-standing statute of limitations established by the 1964 civil

John Kline: rights act and this is the reason that the supreme court ruled the way they did. they held that the statute of limitation is an important part of our society, of our government, of our way of doing business in this country and we need to preserve that statute of limitations. while i can understand the pain

John Kline: that m. ledbetter felt, you can imagine as an employer trying to keep track of decisions going back 20 years and more and trying to defend those in a court? it is not practical, it's not fair. this bill would set an emotion -- set in motion unintended consequences that its supporters are simply not willing to acknowledge.

John Kline: including radically increasing the opportunity for frivolous and abusive litigation. this is indeed another boone for trial lawyers. further, this bill would also permit individuals to seek damages against employers for whom they never worked. by allowing family members and others who were never directly subjected to discrimination to become plaintiffs, even after the worker in question is

John Kline: deceased. just this weekend our new president said our economic troubles are worsening. we should heed his caution and recognize that in such a climate, we cannot afford to enable endless litigation and potentially staggering record-keeping requirements on employers. we're trying to get employers to create more bs to hire more people.

John Kline: we must also be wary of the devastating effect this bill could have on pensions by exposing employers to decades-old discrimination claims that they have little or, i would argue, no ability to defend. this legislation could risk the retirement security of many hardworking americans. mr. speaker, it's very clear that this legislation amounts to a significant change in our

John Kline: civil rights laws and despite a delay, we have had no more debate or deliberation, leavi unanswered many relevant questions that deserve to be addressed through the normal, legislative process. my concerns and unanswered questions can only lead me to say that the ledbetter bill